Sussex MPs’ pay to rise by ten per cent to £74,000

Sussex MPs’ pay will rise by ten per cent to £74,000 a year - it was announced today (Thursday July 16).
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Westminster

It will be backdated to the day after the general election and will then be adjusted yearly in line with average earnings within the public sector.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) announced changes to politicians’ remuneration in a move that is expected to prove highly controversial.

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Sir Ian Kennedy, chair of IPSA, said it was ‘right’ that they made a one-off increase and then formally link MPs’ pay to public sector pay.

He added: “Parliament gave IPSA the power to deal with the vexed issue of MPs’ pay – independent of Parliament and Government. Pay has been an issue which has been ducked for decades, with independent reports and recommendations from experts ignored, and MPs’ salaries supplemented by an opaque and discredited system of allowances.

“We have made the necessary break with the past.

“We have created a new and transparent scheme of business costs and expenses, introduced a less generous pension scheme, where taxpayers contribute less and MPs make a higher contribution, and scrapped large resettlement payments.

“We have consulted extensively on MPs’ pay, and with today’s decision we have put in place the final element of the package for the new Parliament.”

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According a letter sent by Sir Ian to MPs today the one-off pay rise is part of a ‘cost-neutral remuneration package’.

MPs can no longer claim for the costs of hospitality, evening meals, taxis home from Westminster when working late (unless the House sits after 11pm), and home contents insurance.

But Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Just a week after the Chancellor rightly announced further pay restraint in the public sector, it is totally inappropriate for IPSA to be pushing forward with this pay hike.

“This unaccountable body is doing our MPs a great disservice: the invisible quangocrats at IPSA may have made this regrettable decision, but the public will inevitably direct their anger at their elected representatives in Parliament.

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“We welcome the fact that IPSA has tied MPs’ future pay deals to public sector pay rather than average earnings across the economy as planned, but taxpayers will see that as little consolation.

“Make no mistake: IPSA’s decision to hand MPs a huge page rise is totally misguided, and the public won’t forget it.”

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